Another Layer, Another Side
by tivainthesnogbox
Summary: Tony learns something new about Ziva.


A/N: Thank you for reading. Any feedback you can provide would be greatly appreciated so I can improve my writing. Also I don't own NCIS. If I did, I would already know what "conversations" were located in the S10E01 script.

_**Ding**_

The elevator doors opened and Tony stepped out humming the score of the movie he had watched the night before. As he walked toward his desk, he saw Ziva with her nose stuck in a book.

"Good morning, Zee-vah," Tony grinned.

"Good morning, Tony," Ziva replied without looking up. She turned the page, and a soft smile graced her lips.

_Those beautiful lips that I would just like to – _"What are you reading?" Tony, trying to change the direction of his thoughts, asked, his elbows resting on his desk and his hands pressed together as he looked at her. He was intrigued by what could place that soft smile of happiness on his partner's face.

"A book," she responded and turned another page. She still had not looked at him.

_Hmmmm…._ Tony got up from his desk and kneeled in front of hers, his hands fiddling with her Israeli flag. "I can see you are reading a _book_. What is it?"

She turned another page. He stared at her. _She's very engrossed in this one. Normally she would have some sort of comment or she would have looked at me or… Wait! There it is! That soft smile and her eyes are all shiny. Now I have to know what she is reading._

"Hey! Tony! Give me my book back!" Ziva had been so into what she was reading that she had uncharacteristically let down her ninja defenses. It was quite a shock when Tony snatched it out of her hands to see the title. He was now holding it at arms length over her head as she reached for it in an attempt to get it back.

"_Pride and Prejudice? _Jane Austen? Really?" Tony was really smiling now, his eyes laughing.

Ziva huffed. "I do not know why this surprises or amuses you, DiNozzo," she said crossing her arms and leaning against her desk.

_Uh oh. She used DiNozzo. _"I'm not making fun, Ziva. I love that even a ninja can get all girly and read an Austen novel. I like it. I just peeled back another layer of the Ziva onion."

"Ziva onion? Are you saying I smell like an onion?" Ziva had straightened up off the desk and her hands had moved to her hips. She stalked towards Tony until there was barely an inch between them. He gulped.

"No! It's just an analogy. Onions have many layers, and, since I've met you, I have learned that there are many layers to you. That I just learned something new about you is all I was saying."

McGee, who had been there since the conversation began, was watching in amusement.

"What were you saying, DiNozzo?" Gibbs shot them a look at their position so close to each other. They jumped apart. "Grab your gear. Dead marine in Quantico," he ordered as he strode toward the elevator.

McGee, Tony, and Ziva all scrambled to grab their gear and follow their boss. Tony tossed Ziva her book back, and she was stuffing it in her backpack just as the elevator doors closed.

~TZ~

Three days after the book incident, the team found that their case was already solved. Open and shut. It was Friday afternoon, and Gibbs gave them the weekend off.

"Bye Ziva, Tony. Have a good weekend," McGee said as he packed up his things. Ziva wished him well, and Tony waved without looking up from the report he was finishing up. Half an hour passed.

"See you tomorrow?" Tony looked up. Ziva was standing in front of his desk, the question still lingering in the air between them.

"Same time. Same place," he smiled. Ziva nodded, went back to her desk to grab her things, turned around, and smiled, "Until tomorrow."

Tony watched her leave until the elevator concealed her from his view. _She really is beautiful. _He smiled at the thought of seeing her tomorrow. After they were both released from the hospital following the bomb explosion caused by that bastard Dearing, they had started Saturday Movie Night. Ziva would go over to Tony's apartment, they would order a pizza, and he would put in another "classic" he claimed she just had to see. Tomorrow would be the tenth week in a row, not that he was counting.

~TZ~

That night Tony found himself outside of Ziva's door. He knocked. Struck a funny pose with his left hand behind his back for when she looked through the peephole. He waited. The door opened.

"Tony?" She was surprised to see him. He straightened up and smiled. He made a quick observation. Her two-week-old television muted. _Sense and Sensibility_ opened and turned over on the coffee table to keep her down and wavy. Feet bare. Navy blue yoga pants. And his Ohio State sweatshirt. The one he tossed at her last Saturday when she was cold. She wore it home, and she was wearing it again. _Why is she wearing my sweatshirt when surely she has her own sweatshirts to keep her warm this time? _"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"What? Not happy to see me? I'm hurt." He exaggerated a hurt expression.

She rolled her eyes. "Of course I'm happy to see you. Come in." He stepped in after her, hand still behind his back, shut the door, and stopped. Ziva turned back around when he stopped just two feet in the doorway. She was puzzled, "Is everything alright?"

"I used the wrong analogy."

"What?" Ziva questioned.

"I used the wrong analogy. Finding out that you like Jane Austen is not like just peeling back another layer of an onion," Tony continued. Understanding flashed across Ziva's face. "It's more like turning a flawless diamond and examining another angle and side, only to see that that facet is just as beautiful as all the others."

Ziva blushed and became uncharacteristically shy. "Tony…" she noticed his hand was still behind his back, "What do you have back there?"

"Other than a fine piece of my anatomy that I know you like to watch when I walk away?" he said with a grin. She scoffed and her hands went up on her hips. She looked at him. _She didn't deny it._ "Alright, alright," he conceded as he pulled out a DVD from behind his back. "I know it's not Saturday yet, but I was wondering if you might want to watch this with me." It was _Pride and Prejudice. _"It's the 2005 version staring Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen. I know you've probably already seen it, but I…" he trailed off and shrugged.

Ziva smiled that same soft smile that started it all earlier in the week. "I have seen it, but I would love to watch it with you," she said as she took Tony by the arm and led him to the couch. He sat. She put the movie in, clicked play, and sat down next to him.

~TZ~

Later, when the characters on screen were interacting at Pemberley, Tony smiled. At some point, Ziva had moved closer to him and leaned her head against his shoulder. His arm was wrapped around her. He smiled. Phase one of accomplishing #26 on his bucket list: complete.


End file.
